Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Right, a few people have asked so here is what went down at Sunday's race

Yvan, J-G (Yvan's Brother) and I leave our house for the race...shotgun start was 7:00 a.m. Yvan wanted to be at the race grounds by 6:15 a.m. to do a dynamic warm up, pee, get race jitters over etc.We left the house at 6:35 a.m. because someone was running (pun intended) behind (hint - it wasn't J-G or me)

As we headed down the street that leads to the grounds for parking we realized everyone else was also trying to get in the grounds at the exact same time as us, so we parked about 10 blocks away and ran to the starting area.

Dynamic Warm-up was done en route and we got many funny looks as we side-stepped, lunged and windmilled our way to the race area.

Now, we had gotten up at 5:15 a.m. in order to eat (half a banana with yogurt (Rana) and one egg with toast (Yvan) and to properly hydrate (2 glasses of water, 1/2 glass orange to keep cramping at bay and 1/2 cup of green tea for me and coffee for Yvan) so we had to pee prior to the start of the race....apparently so did the other 2000 people running or walking as they were all standing in line at the port-a-potties.

Now if you read my post last year when we ran this race you know that I didn't get to go to the bathroom before the race started and hence had to pee the entire time I was running...I wasn't about to do this again. So, I got in line! Yvan found a bush somewhere (men are so lucky)...J-G also got in line with me. Yvan wished us well and then hightailed it to the starting area as he wanted to be pretty far up in the pack....J-G looks at me and said "How is it the we were ready on time and late because of "you know who" and "you know who" is getting to start the race on time.

Countdown to gun is on - we are still in line for the potties....gun goes off...we are still in line for the potties....everyone slowly starts their race....we are still in line for the potties.

Lucky for us the event is done with chip timing (a small chip is laced onto your shoe, you step on specially designed mats that activate your chip as you leave the starting gate....when you finish you step on a mat coming in and your chip is activated again and your race results are sent to a computer) so you can leave whenever you want and still get an accurate time for your run.

Eventually we made it into the potties (separately of course) and then off on our run.

J-G and I were running 10K, while Yvan was running a Half Marathon and there was also a full maraton but those people aren't wired quite right I say.

Mom and Dad L ( Yvan and J-G's) parents came out to cheer us on along the route.

Here is J-G waving at G & Y

Here I am - completely oblivious to them (in blue shirt)

Me still completely unaware - I had my ipod cranked really loud and was in "the zone" LOL

some girl taps me on the shoulder and points in their direction but I still didn't clue in and then she yells at me - someone is cheering for you and waving like crazy! I did finally turn around and see them and wave!

Yvan coming into the finish - he started about a minute after the gun went off so his time is actually a minute better than what the clock shows as that is gun time. Get it?

Yvan and I eating some post race goodies

Yvan and J-G

All three of us - do not mock the hair I have - it was humid and I was sweaty and my hair was crazy!

Yvan finished his half marathon in - 1 hour 50 min and 39 seconds

Jean-Guy finished his 10K in - 52 min and 49 seconds

Slow-moe-Joe a.k.a Rana finishes in 1 hour 10 min and 30 second. Not bad for having only two training runs under my belt this year.

Here are some of my thoughts as I was running.

"Am I crazy? I must be crazy! Why else would I be putting myself thru this?"

"I think I am going to puke."

"Oh boy - I think I am going to fall over."

"Are we there yet?"

"Why is that guy always trying to pass me - no way MR.! NO WAY!"

"WTF - it is Sunday - I should be in bed, sleeping, not torturing myself!"

"Are we there yet?"

"I can do this, no I can't, yes I can, no, no I can't, yes, yes I can..."

"Oh thank GAWD! There is the finish line...why is it so far away?" Why don't they run towards me with it?" "Oh gawd, please let me get there without falling over or puking on myself..."

"o.k. 100m to go - you can do this"

At the 100m point my old sprinting days kicked in and I ran like speed racer to the finish line and passed a whole bunch of people and yelled - "ha ha ha suckas....bet you didn't see me coming!"

I jest - I didn't yell that. I just limped over to the medical unit and got an ice pack for my aching knee!

It was a great morning - our running community is fantastic and the volunteers and supporters along the route are really inspiring.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

My Friend Rachel - who lives far away but is always near and dear to my heart - sent me an email yesterday letting me know she was thinking of us. She reads my blog and when a specific post strikes her she sends me a note....I love her for that.

She said my "Don't Give Up" post reminded her of a song by Peter Gabriel called "Don't Give Up" and here is why we are such good friends. She thinks like me in terms of music - when I am happy, sad, angry etc. I can relate how I am feeling to a song. She also has tremendous taste in music and being an *ahem* '80's teen (like me) how could she not...it was the best music EVER!

Her email made me smile because when I wrote that post I had Peter Gabriel's song "Don't Give Up" playing in my head the whole time and my intention was to post the video but had forgotten...and then I got her email. I am reminded how connected we are even though we only see each other once maybe twice a year.

So, I dedicate this to all my waiting friends with love.

In this proud land we grew up strongWe were wanted all alongI was taught to fight, taught to winI never thought I could fail

No fight left or so it seemsI am a man whose dreams have all desertedI've changed my face, I've changed my nameBut no one wants you when you lose

Don't give up'Cause you have friendsDon't give upYou're not beaten yetDon't give upI know you can make it good

Though I saw it all aroundNever thought that I could be affectedThought that we'd be last to goIt is so strange the way things turn

Drove the night toward my homeThe place that I was born, on the lakesideAs daylight broke, I saw the earthThe trees had burned down to the ground

Don't give upYou still have usDon't give upWe don't need much of anythingDon't give up'Cause somewhere there's a placeWhere we belongRest your headYou worry too muchIt's going to be alrightWhen times get roughYou can fall back on usDon't give upPlease don't give up

Got to walk out of hereI can't take any moreGoing to stand on that bridgeKeep my eyes down belowWhatever may comeAnd whatever may goThat river's flowingThat river's flowing

Moved on to another townTried hard to settle downFor every job, so many menSo many men no-one needs

Don't give up'Cause you have friendsDon't give upYou're not the only oneDon't give upNo reason to be ashamedDon't give upYou still have usDon't give up nowWe're proud of who you areDon't give upYou know its never been easyDon't give up'Cause I believe there's a placeThere's a place where we belong.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Spent the long weekend in Vancouver visiting my mom to celebrate her birthday. When you are feeling sad and blue, it is good to spend time with the one who gave you life. She always makes me feel better. I love you momma!

On Friday Mom and I drove to Seattle for the day. We spent a couple of hours at Pike Place Market...you've probably seen it on t.v. or even been to it.

What a place! The sights, sounds, food, flowers, colors, musicians...fantastic!

It is a photographers dream...it sure got my creative juices flowing again. I could have spent the day wandering around taking a million photos. (click on photos to make them bigger)

Saturday we headed back to the States to do a little shopping and my Auntie K and Cousin H came along too. H made us breakfast before we left....o.k. just the fruit salad.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

I haven't of course. But at the time...when I heard those words again "Sorry, we don't have anything for you this time" all the air rushed out of my body like someone had hit me in the stomach with a 1000lb weight.

I could literally hear the tinkling of my heart as it broke into teeny, tiny shards. It was screaming at me...."I can't do this anymore"...while my brain was saying..."you will get thru this, we will get thru this" oh wait...that was Yvan whispering in my ear as I cried into my pillow! I love that man...he is the best!

I have had so many people post on my blog and send me emails and messages...it is unbelievable...how can I not go on when we have so much support and love...honestly you are all so amazing...it really renews your faith in the goodness of people.

Crystal wrote: "Stay strong however you can and when you can't stand this journey, sit... and then crawl and just keep moving forward day by day... hour by hour... minute by minute...Don't give up! You have come so far!!"

I have definitely hit the crawling stage...but bloody knees and all I will keep going.

I asked in my last post "When does one say enough?"

I'll tell you when!

When we walk thru the airports doors, into the arms of our family and friends, with our wee one finally with us forever.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

So, o.k. I have to apologize to anyone I may have accidentally spooked by a post a I ACCIDENTALLY published yesterday.

Here is what happened:

Way back in March when The CBC ran THAT story (you know the one I mean) I wrote this post.

However, I had written an entirely different post right after seeing the story and then thought better of it and kept it in my drafts folder. I decided I didn't have anything to defend..I still stand by that.

Yesterday, while I was writing my post about L.A. I went into my drafts folder and thought to myself "Self, you should really clean out these posts you wrote (there were a few) and didn't publish lest you accidentally publish one of them."

So, I set about deleting posts! Or at least I thought I had deleted them all...about 3 minutes later I got an email from someone asking if every thing was o.k. Was there another story? Was I o.k.?

"Oh nooooo!" I groaned and phoned said friend to ask what she was referring to although I had a pretty good idea what it was.....and yup...I had done what I had set out NOT to do. I had posted the "My Heart Hurts" post.

I got a couple of other emails and talked to few friends who said they all read the post...man you guys read stuff fast :)...and were worried.

Now I could say that I was tired because it was Monday or I was still adjusting to life after holidays...but really what it comes down to is this....

I HAVE A MUSHY BRAIN FROM WAITING!!

I really do! I have been extremely absentminded the last few weeks...oh o.k.....months!

I send emails to people telling them to read a link I found interesting and forget to include the link.

I freak out thinking I have lost my sunglasses only to find out they are...you guessed it...on top of my head.

I sit in our weekly team meetings and daydream about the when "the call" will come and then pipe up and say something like "we need to discuss landscaping for this project" only to be told they had been discussing said topic for the past 10 minutes and where was I.

I have almost cut my finger off cooking supper because I am in my head instead of in reality!

Last week I was looking for something in my purse...handed Yvan my wallet and asked him to hold it for me...than immediately started to panic because I couldn't find the wallet and what were we going to do if I had lost it! Yvan looked at me like...well....like I was losing my mind.

I find that I used to have a lot of marbles...I considered myself to be fairly intelligent (no Albert Einstein mind you) but lately I seem to be down to one marble and I am perilously close to losing that precious marble.

There is only one cure for what ails me and I can't even think about it until the phone actually rings!

So, on behalf of my mushy brain...I apologize if I got anyone worried about MORE media coverage...there is none...that story has fizzled like the soggy firecracker it was. I have deleted the aforementioned post....I think..I don't remember..sigh!

Monday, May 4, 2009

My blogger friend Julie and her husband Steven opened up their home to Yvan and me for 4 days last week. While we have emailed and blogged for quite a while but we had never met in person.

When they invited us to stay with them, we decided to venture forth and make new friends. And friends, indeed, we made! Julie and Steven are just our kind of people and I do believe we will be friends for life.

Who knew you could connect so well with people you have never met?!

So, with out further ado - here is L.A. Adventure!!

Arriving into L.A. via LAX

Waiting with anticipation to meet Julie for the first time when she picked us up at the airport!

Julie whisked us away to visit the set of the show that Steven works on.

After a tour of the set we headed to Hollywood Boulevard.

Walk of Fame

Mann's Chinese Theatre

Uh...sorry Julie! I didn't know...and it cost me a dollar too!

Hello?! I love Christopher Walken....

So I just had too!

After a busy first day we needed to rest on the big, yellow, not-so-comfy couch

Saturday we headed to Little Ethiopia for an adoption gathering and excellent Ethiopian food

Shopping in Little Ethiopia - maybe we can learn some Amharic finally!

Off to Beverly Hills and the SLS Hotel - supposed to look like a Dali painting but it was more